Jillian Tamaki appears at The Beguiling on Tuesday April 28th at 6:30 PM for the official launch-day event of her new comic, giving a talk about her work, reading from SuperMutant Magic Academy, and signing books. This is a great opportunity to ask vital questions about variant strains of Dungeons & Dragons, characters’ fates, transgressive performance art, and more.

Store signing will take place at The Beguiling with a performance venue to be announced later. SuperMutant Magic Academy will be on sale at the event. Jillian’s books (with writer Mariko Tamaki) ‘Skim’ and ‘This One Summer’ are available in store now!

About SuperMutant Magic Academy:
SuperMutant Magic Academy paints a teenage world that is moody and ennui-filled but also wry and irreverent: the SuperMutant Magic Academy is a prep-school for mutants and witches but their paranormal abilities take a back seat to everyday teen concerns. Wendy, Marsha, Cheddar, Frances, and the other students will be your guides through the D&D games, performance art, unrequited crushes, andspell class tests that are the staples of life at the Academy.

Best-selling author Jillian Tamaki (Skim, This One Summer) appears at Skylight Books on Friday, April 24, 2015 at 7:30 pm for the launch of her new Drawn and Quarterly graphic novel, SuperMutant Magic Academy! There will be a slideshow presentation and signing to follow.

SuperMutant Magic Academy paints a teenage world that is moody and ennui-filled but also wry and irreverent: the SuperMutant Magic Academy is a prep-school for mutants and witches but their paranormal abilities take a back seat to everyday teen concerns. Wendy, Marsha, Cheddar, Frances, and the other students will be your guides through the D&D games, performance art, unrequited crushes, and spell class tests that are the staples of life at the Academy.

Jillian Tamaki is a Canadian cartoonist and illustrator. She is the co-creator of the graphic novel Skim (with Mariko Tamaki), which was listed as one of the New York Times’ Best Illustrated Books of 2008 and was nominated for four Eisner Awards. Her second collaborative work with Mariko Tamaki, the graphic novel This One Summer, was a New York Times Bestseller and won the 2014 Governor General’s Literary Award. Tamaki has won two Ignatz Awards for her work onSuperMutant Magic Academy. She lives in Toronto, Canada.

To inaugurate the D.G. Ivey Library graphic novel collection, WGSI has invited Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki to come discuss their new graphic novel, This One Summer.

To talk about the novel, and other things, we have a panel of University of Toronto faculty members, Judy Han, from Geography, Naomi Morgenstern from English, and Sarah Trimble from WGSI who will ask questions of the authors, and then open the floor to the audience!

Please join us for what promises to be a very fun and thoughtful event.

The event is open to the public, and meant to encourage faculty and students to make use of the D.G. Ivey Library graphic novel collection.

Announcing the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2015! Over 300 cartoonists from Canada and around the world are on their way to Toronto this May, to celebrate the very best in comics, graphic novels, bandes dessinées, and manga! A week-long Festival of readings, launches, and art events culminating in a massive, FREE two-day exhibition centered at Toronto Reference Library, May 10 and 11, 2015!

For more than a decade, The Toronto Comic Arts Festival has showcased the incredible comics art being made here in Canada, and invited the attention of the international cartooning community. The 2015 programme continues to build on those successes, with an increase in programming, and a renewed focus on Canadian cartoonists from coast to coast!

TCAF 2015 will welcome a remarkable array of authors! Highlights from the author guests include:

Charles Burns: Creator of Black Hole, considered to be one of the most important graphic novels in the Western canon, Burns will be at TCAF to celebrate his recently completed new graphic novel series X’ed Out (Pantheon Books). Burns will also illustrated one of the official posters of the 2015 Festival, to be revealed.

Eleanor Davis: An outstanding cartoonist and editorial illustrator (The New Yorker, New York Times), Davis’ recent graphic novel release How To Be Happy (Fantagraphics) was widely lauded as one of the best graphic novels of 2014, and TCAF is thrilled to welcome this her back to Toronto for the 2015 Festival.

Gurihiru: This dynamic cartooning duo (working under one pen name) hails from Tokyo, Japan, and is beloved in North America for their original graphic novels set in the universe of Avatar: The Last Airbender (Dark Horse). They have also created work for Marvel Comics, Disney, and an array of independent illustration work.

Lucy Knisley: A long-time supporter of the Festival, Knisley’s memoirs and travelogues are well-loved across the continent. Knisley attends as a Featured Guest in 2015, in support of her new travelogue/graphic novel Displacement (Fantagraphics).

Scott McCloud: Creator of the essential comics text Understanding Comics, TCAF will welcome McCloud back to Toronto in support of his acclaimed new graphic novel The Sculptor (First Second Books).

BarbaraStok: Hailing from The Netherlands, Stok has an impressive collection of graphic novels to her credit. TCAF is happy to welcome her as a Featured Guest of the Festival in 2015, in conjunction with her debut English-language graphic novel release Vincent (SelfMadeHero), an important and critically-praised biography of Vincent Van Gogh.

Jillian Tamaki: With her cousin Mariko Tamaki, Jillian Tamaki’s 2014 TCAF Debut This One Summer (Groundwood/First Second) took home a Governor General’s Award, a Caldecott Honor, and a Printz Honor. In 2015, Jillian Tamaki will release SuperMutantMagicAcademy (Drawn & Quarterly), her hilarious new graphic novel.

Chip Zdarsky: Hometown favourite and emerging international superstar Zdarsky (a.k.a. Steve Murray) is welcomed as a Featured Guest for 2015! Best-known for his ground-breaking comic series Sex Criminals (with writer Matt Fraction), spring 2015 will see the launch of his new series Kaptara (Image Comics) with fellow Toronto illustrator Kagan McLeod, and a relaunch of Marvel Comics’ Howard The Duck.

And these are just the first nine featured guests among the more than 300 Canadian and International cartoonists participating in the 2015 Festival.

Featured guests will continue to be announced through February and March, with special guests from France, Italy, Germany, Japan, and the U.S. and Canada still to be revealed!

TCAF 2015 will also feature several programming spotlights, including a special tribute to esteemed Canadian graphic novel published Drawn & Quarterly, on the occasion of their 25th Anniversary.

Additional Programs will be announced in February and March, including the CSSC-SCEBD Academic Conference, Library & Educator Day, Word Balloon Academy, Comics Vs. Games 4, Gallery Showings, Screenings, and much more. Visit TCAF online for up-to-the-minute updates:

2:15 pm–3:00 pm The Mary Sue Presents Fight What You Know—with Danica Novgorodoff
The geek world needs better representation in media, but aren’t you supposed to write what you know? Truth is, the whole “write what you know” thing is a load of bull honkey. A writer who can’t appreciate the perspectives of others is no kind of writer at all. Writers from all backgrounds and experiences join to talk about research, listening, soliciting criticism, and how to make sure you’re writing well when you’re outside the comfort zone of your own perspective. Room 1A14

10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. Create Your Own Monster—with Andrew Arnold and George O’Connor
Two authors enter… and with your help, they’ll each create a monster who embodies everything that you think monsters should be! Which will be best? It’s up to you! Moderator: Jack Baur Family HQ – 1C03

3:00 pm Spotlight on Bryan Lee O’Malley—with Cory Doctorow
Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of the bestselling Scott Pilgrim series, discusses his newest project, the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel Seconds, with Cory Doctorow, New York Times bestselling author and co-editor of Boing Boing.Room 1A21

7:15 pm–8:00 pm Breaking Good —with Cory Doctorow
This panel explores how comic books, video games, and novels are addressing world challenges. Perhaps the most inspiring content for our panel audience will be to hear about how you are using popular entertainment to address the issues that you care about. We’ll have about 10 minutes each to talk. It’s an exciting lineup of panelists which includes an FBI Victim Specialist, the dynamic Alexis Krieger, who was involved in creating the comic book Abolitionista! that is being used to empower young people to protect themselves from predators. Room 1A05

Sunday, October 12th

Signings at the First Second Booth (#2237):

11:30 pm–12:30 pm : Zack Giallongo and Ben Hatke

12:30 pm–1:30 pm : Cory Doctorow

1:30 pm–2:30 pm : Box Brown

2:30 pm–3:30 pm : MK Reed

10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m. Create Your Own Magical Creature—with Zack Giallongo and Ben Hatke
Two authors enter… and with your help, they’ll each create a magical creature who embodies everything that you think is awesome! Which will be best? It’s up to you! Family HQ – Room 1C03

Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki appear at Politics & Prose to sign This One Summer on Saturday May 17, 2014 at 7:00 pm!

The latest graphic novel from the writer/artist cousins who created Skim is the story of Rose and Windy, friends from many summers together on Lake Ontario. This particular year, the two rely on each other more than ever as Rose faces the end of her parents’ marriage and a confusing crush on the wrong boy. Ages 15 and up.